Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Team Blazebolt
by Eternal Shining Pikmin
Summary: Imagine waking up one day....and you were a Pokemon! Join Ikaru as he travels to new areas and an era covered by Darkness. What awaits him now? Thrills? Adventure? Treasure? Love? Who knows! Rated T for mild violence, language, and fluff in later chapters


Chapter 1: Birth of Team Blazebolt

KRACKO! A bolt of lightning descended from the heavens of the rain filled sky and struck the Earth, with two strangers currently stood, unfortunately causing one to fall, right next to a cliff above an incredibly rough ocean!

"Whoa! Wh-wh-whoa!" the falling being shouted, meeting the ground with a hard thump.

"Hey! Are you okay?" the second figure called out in concern.

"Yeah, I think so." The first figure replied, rising from the ground.

Before another move could be made, another lightning bolt shot down, this one knocking the first figure right off the cliff! Luckily, the figure managed to grab onto a small jutting rock right underneath the cliff's edge.

"Scratch my last statement! I'm not okay now!" the first figure cried out, a mixture of shock and fear in the voice.

"Oh no! Just don't let go!" the second figure stated as it reached down to help the first figure back up. As this was happening, yet another lightning bolt descended, this time barely missing the duo. "Just a little longer...Come on! Hang on!"

The second figures hand was about to grab the firsts in an attempt to bring him back up. Unfortunately, the figures grip began to slip off the cliffside!

"N-n-no! I just can't hold on any longer!" the figure shouted. As if the sky was taking pleasure in tormenting the figures, another bolt shot at the cliff. The only difference is that it struck the dangling figure dead on! With a horrible scream of pain, the figure plummeted downward, and crashed into the murky depths of the raging ocean, quickly losing consciousness.

The second figure, whom felt as if the very heavens were taunting it, stood back up after watching the first figure fall towards what appeared to be their demise. After several tense, sorrow filled moments of standing atop the strange Sharpedo shaped cliff, the remaining figure departed.

--

The following morning, with the storm long gone and the oceans wrath subsided, it has once again become a peaceful body of water, home to thousands upon thousands of Pokemon. But this is not where our story takes place.

Our story starts on the beach of an island, famous for being home to the legendary Wigglytuff Guild. Peaceful as it seemed, an adventure that spanned throughout time, was about to unfold.

On the beach, a weak tide continued to send wave after wave upon the shore. This was the basic toll of the beach, constantly pounding small waves upon the sand shore. Of course, a wave that just came in was rather…different from the rest. Upon subsiding back into the ocean, it was revealed that it carried something along to the shore other then its water: a Pokemon! And now, dear readers, our story is about to begin!

--

That sound? What was that peaceful sound? The ocean? Am I...by the ocean?

A sting of cold water rushed past my body, were it quickly came back from where it came.

"Yep. I'm by the…ocean…" I weakly stated, not even opening my eye from my lack of energy.

Before I could do anything else, a wave of darkness began to cloud my mind.

"I can't…..stay awake….Drifting off….." Before I could say another word, I felt the darkness in my mind prevail, and I was out cold.

--

Just past the beach and up a large hill marked by several totem poles and a flight of stairs, their stood a Torchic, pacing back and forth. In front of it was a large, wooden Wigglytuff shaped hut with a gate blocking entrance. There was also a large grate on the ground, covering a massive hole right in front of the hut. Two torches stood next to the guild, one on each side.

"Hmm…" was all the Torchic said as it continued to pace. After several more paces, it stopped right in front of the grate. "Okay, that does it! I'm not going to let my fear paralyze me when I'm so close to my dream!" it proclaimed before taking a large breath in. "Okay. I know I have enough courage for this." With that, the Torchic stepped on the grate.

A voice shot up through the grate, startling the poor Torchic. "Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!" it shouted. "Whose footprint? Whose footprint? The footprint is Torchic's! The footprint is Torchic's!"

"WAAH!" the Torchic shouted, falling backwards off the grate. In a panic, it stood up in a hurry and looked in every direction. "That freaked me out! Couldn't they at least have a warning?" The Torchic sighed in sadness. "Why can't I ever work up the courage to go inside? I promised myself that today would be the day…" it mumbled.

The Torchic sat down on the ground, and placed a small stone on the ground. "Even holding onto my own personal treasure didn't give me the courage I needed." Before picking the stone back up with its little wings, and then sighing again. "No matter how hard I try, I can never do what I promised myself." The Torchic looked at the ground, depression obviously on its mind. "I'm just a coward…All I can do is discourage myself further…" With that, the Torchic turned around and descended the flight of stairs, unknown that it was being watched.

A Koffing and a Zubat emerged from hiding behind a totem pole, and watched the Torchic walk away.

"Hey, Zubat. Did you see how scared that little Torchic was?" the Koffing asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Of course I did." The Zubat replied.

"Just kept pacing around the entrance. Looked like it had something valuable." Koffing stated.

"I know it had something. Looked along the lines of treasure, if you ask me." Zubat simply stated.

Koffing turned to face the Zubat. "So, do we go and take it?"

Zubat also turned to face the Koffing. "That, we do." With that, both Pokemon made their pursuit after the Torchic.

Back with the Torchic, the saddened Pokemon had just walked onto the beach, where a large number of Krabbys on top of rocks were blowing bubbles of all sizes. Large or small, they continued to float through the air. The Torchic, once near the waters edge, turned to face the ocean.

"Wow! That sight! It's beautiful!" the Torchic said in amazement as it stared off at the sunset, the bubbles sparkling with color from the Sun's rays. "Whenever the weather is like this and the sun is setting, the Krabby always come out to blow bubbles…And when the bubbles reflect the Sun's light onto the waves...Its just breathtaking."

More and more bubbles joined to one floating over the ocean, adding to the display. The Torchic looked at the ground once more. "Whenever I feel sorry for myself, I always come down to this beach. But no matter how sad I am, this kind of view will always make me happy. It always has, and it always will." The Torchic stated, raising its head again. When the Torchic turn to continue the beach stroll, something caught its eye. Something…Yellow.

"Huh? What in the world is that?" The Torchic asked itself as it walked over. It didn't take long, maybe a minute at most, until it was clear. It wasn't some**thing** on the beach, it was some**one**! "Oh no! Is...is that person okay?" the Torchic asked itself in a panic as it sprinted over to the unconscious Pokemon. "Hey? Are you okay? What happened?" it asked as it nudged the Pokemon with its beak.

--

….Wha? Is….somebody there? I felt numerous small nudges on my side, and heard a soft voice.

"Hey? Are you okay? What happened?" the voice asked.

Although I still felt weak, I managed to get back on my feet and opened my eyes. My first sight was a Torchic standing in front of me. I quickly turned and took in my surroundings. Sand, some rocks, sand, the ocean, and more sand. Yep. Defiantly the beach, as I had assumed before I lost consciousness earlier.

"Hey! You're awake! Thank goodness!" the Torchic stated, with relief strong in its voice.

The voice is the same I heard when I awoke. From the light sound of the voice, I could tell this Torchic was female.

I looked back at the Torchic. "Is there a reason as to why you're so happy now that I'm awake?"

"Well, you weren't moving at all. I thought you might be hurt, or worse…." She stated, looking to the side. "But now that I know your okay, do you mind telling me how you were knocked out here on the beach?"

"Knocked out on the beach…" I said to myself, and tried to recall how it happened. I could only remember feeling the cold sting of the water on my body, and then passing out. Everything else was a blank. "I...can't remember. I only know that I passed out here."

"Oh. That's a shame, not even remembering how you got here." The Torchic said, obviously feeling sorry for me. "Well, my names Cremara. Happy to meet you!" the Torchic, or rather, Cremara stated. "Do you mind telling me your name? I've never seen you around here before."

"Well, there's a problem with that. You see, I'm talking with the biggest Torchic I've ever seen for starters. Then there's the fact that I'm a human, and you're a Pokemon!" I said, confused by what exactly was happening here.

"Huh? First off, I'm a normal sized Torchic, maybe even a little short for one! And second off, a human? You look just like any ordinary Pikachu to me!" Cremara stated, whom I believed was now confused as well.

"What? That's impossible!" I exclaimed. I looked at the water to see my reflection. What I saw was a giant yellow mouse with red cheeks staring back at me! "GAH!" I looked at my hands, to see they were yellow, just like the reflection. I twisted my head around as far as possible to see a lightning bolt shaped tail connected to my body. "Wha-what happened to me? I've turned into a Pikachu!! And more importantly, I don't remember anything about myself!"

Cremara stared at me, possibly more confused then she was moments ago. "Wait, is this some kind of joke you're trying to pull? It's not a very good one." She stated, thinking that I was simply joking.

"I don't understand! First I wake up on a beach, next I'm talking to a Torchic, then I find out I've turned into a Pikachu, and now I can't remember anything other then the fact I was a human! What's happening to me?!" I shouted in frustration. Needless to say, my mind was boggled beyond all belief.

"Your…telling the truth?" Cremara said as she pondered for a moment. "This is the weirdest thing I've ever been a part of." She sighed. "Do you at least remember your name?"

"My…name?" I asked myself. After several quick moments, my name popped back into my head. "Alright! I can remember my name!"

"Well, that's something good about this freaky conversation. Now, would you mind telling me? It's kind of weird talking to somebody when you don't even know their name." Cremara stated.

"That's understandable." I said while thinking out loud. "Okay, my name's Ikaru."

"Alright, so your name's Ikaru." Cremara said before she nodded. "You don't seem to be one of the bad Pokemon, at least."

I cocked my head to the side. "Bad Pokemon?"

"Yeah. More and more Pokemon have become aggressive lately. They attack others without reason, so they've been named "Bad Pokemon."" Cremara replied. She then began to laugh at herself. "Oh, and sorry for not believing your story at first, Ikaru." Cremara then pointed her head at the ground, possibly embarrassed for thinking I was trying to pull a joke on her. "Because of this, there was a large spike in Pokemon criminals as of late." She said.

Right as she finished talking, I noticed two Pokemon approaching at a high speed from behind her. One of them was a Zubat, and the other was a Koffing. Before I could even say something, the Zubat slammed into Cremara, full force. This caused her to sail towards me, and in my attempt to stop her, I was shot backwards as well, almost smashing into a large rock.

"Ouch!" Cremara screamed as she slammed into the ground. I assumed she landed on a hidden rock, considering how she was in pain after landing in the soft sand.

"Well, I do beg your pardon." The Koffing said with a smug smirk spread across his face.

Cremara got back on her feet in a flash. "Hey! What was that all about!?"

The Zubat let out a quick laugh. "Don't you see? We just wanted to mess with you! But you can't do anything about it, now can you?"

"What!?" Cremara shouted, obviously enraged from these two.

Zubat turned his gaze to a stone on the ground. Strange, that wasn't there before...

"That thing there is yours, right?" Zubat said with a taunting tone.

"What are you-"Before Cremara could finish, her gaze drifted to the stone as well." "Oh no! That's-"

"Heh, sorry kid! We'll be taking this off your hands!" Zubat stated as he swooped down and grabbed the stone.

"Aaaaah!" Cremara screamed. She seemed distressed that those two were taking that stone that appeared out of nowhere. But why?

Koffing began laughing. "What? Aren't you going to try and get it back? Or are you too scared to even try?" he taunted. "You're an even bigger coward then I thought!" He then turned to face Zubat. "Lets leave already. We got what we wanted." He said.

Zubat turned and faced us. "See you around wimp." He said before laughing and running…erm…**floating** away.

"...Oooh, what should I do?" She asked herself, seeming distraught after being insulted by those thieves.

"Cremara, what's wrong? Sure, they made fun of you, but all they did other then that was take a stone. Why would that upset you?" I asked, puzzled as to why she cared so much about a stone.

Cremara stared at the ground again. "That "stone" is my own personal treasure. It's my most treasured possession…If I were to lose it…." She said before she started trembling, but then stopped. She raised her head, a spark of courage gleaming in her eyes. "No! I'm not going to waste any more time! I've got to get it back from them!" Cremara began to storm off in the direction the dastardly duo fled to.

"Cremara, wait a minute!" I shouted as I ran in front of her.

"What? You can't be trying to tell me that your letting them get away, are you!?" she demanded. Apparently, that treasure meant a lot more to her then I thought.

"That's not what I'm trying to do!" I exclaimed in return.

"Then what are you doing?!" She demanded yet again.

At first, I thought about yelling back again. But I knew I shouldn't. Cremara really just wanted her personal treasure back. I think everybody would act like this if their most treasured possession was taken from them.

So, I took in a deep breath, and then exhaled. "I'm going to help you get it back from those creeps." I said.

"You….what? Why are you going to help me? We don't even know each other, and I just accused you of letting those two get away." She asked me. She had calmed down, a good sign.

"True, true, and unfortunately true." I stated in return. "But that doesn't mean I can't help. It just doesn't feel right to let them get away with the item you hold closest to your heart."

Cremara seemed awestruck from what I just said. But then again, like she said, I think I would react the same way if somebody offered to help me if I yelled at them thinking they were keeping me from an item that was stolen from me.

"…Okay." The sadness I had just seen washed away again, replaced by boldness. "Alright Ikaru, lets get those crooks!" With that, she stormed off into a cave right in front of us.

"Hey, I can't wait either!" I exclaimed, and charged in after her.

--

The cave was the exact opposite of the beach outside. Sure, it had water, but this was more so a giant puddle that covered my feet then an actual body of water. The cave was incredibly dark, making it hard to even see 10 feet in front of you. To top it all off, a dank smell was prominent the moment I stepped into the cave. Just as I said, the exact opposite of the beach I just left.

"Ikaru….I'm starting to have second thoughts about coming to this place" Cremara said, now hiding behind me. It was strange. Just a moment ago, she was as fearless as can be. Now that we're inside the cave, she's scared of everything! It's going to take a long time to figure her out.

"Don't worry. We came here to get your treasure back, and I'm not going to stop until I take it back from those two!" I declared. I had a feeling that I was showing off, but I ignored. I also mistakenly ignored what appeared to be an orange shell crawling across the ground towards me.

"Thanks Ikaru. I think I needed that." Cremara stated before walking to my side. That's when she noticed the orange shell, and took several steps backwards.

"Cremara? Why are you walking away? Is something the matter?" I asked, still blissfully unaware of the orange shell.

"Be-behind you! A Kabuto!" Cremara exclaimed, panicking as the creature entering striking distance.

"A Kabuto?" I tried to think of what Pokemon it was as I turned around. That's when I saw the orange shell. It quickly rose up, revealing six sharp yellow claw like appendages, and strange glowing, yellow eyes. Then, it lunged forward in an attempt to slash me open with those claws of his! "AH! Get away from me!" I screamed, feeling a strange sensation enter my cheeks.

With that sensation, lightning instantly coated my body, and shot forward, frying the Kabuto before it could dodge. It feel to the ground, its bright orange shell charred black.

"What…did I just do?" I asked myself, the tingling sensation still in my cheeks.

Cremara's eyes lit up. "Of course! That was your Thundershock! You can defeat Water Types like Kabuto with no problem with that move!" She declared.

I smiled at that last part. "Oh, now that's just awesome. Considering the environment of this cave, I wouldn't be surprised if all the Pokemon in this cave are Water Types." I said before taking a look at the now unconscious Kabuto. "I'm going to guess this is what you meant earlier by "Bad Pokemon," right?"

"Yeah. Normally, Kabuto run away from anything that comes near them. Because it was so aggressive, I know it was one of the Bad Pokemon! " Cremara stated as she nodded to herself.

"Alright then! Come on Cremara, lets go get them!" I said as I proceeded down a narrow passage, Cremara right behind me.

After several minutes of wandering aimlessly through the cave, and several small battles, we came upon a flight of poorly made stone stairs that lead downwards, apparently to a different floor of this crazy cave.

"Cremara, should we go down and try this new floor? I doubt those two would just be hanging around on the top floor" I asked. I wouldn't want to force her to continue if she didn't want to.

"Yeah. Lets try it Ikaru!" she said, obviously wanting to continue.

"Alright. Just be careful going down these stairs. They don't look very stable." I warned, taking my own advice and very cautiously continuing down the staircase. I looked up and saw Cremara was also taking great caution with these steps. At the bottom, we met the new floors welcome wagon. A Shellos dead ahead, and a Corsola coming up on my right.

Because the Shellos was closest, I decided to go after it first. I felt the electricity build up in my cheeks like it did earlier.

"Thundershock!' I shouted, letting the attack blast the Shellos, knocking it out. The Corsola began approaching, much closer to Cremara then it was to me.

"Scratch!" she exclaimed as she slashed the Corsola with the claws on her feet. The Corsola retaliated with a vicious tackle, knocking her backwards.

I ran at the Corsola, only to have it tackle me as well. Of course, I didn't plan on letting that stop me. "Thundershock!" I exclaimed, shooting even more lighting, this time at the Corsola, knocking it out as well.

Although I planned to continue, I felt a strange feeling channel through my body. Not a bad strange, but a _good_ strange. I also heard Cremara let out a quick, happy giggle.

"Hey, what's so funny Cremara?" I asked, still trying to figure out what that feeling was.

"I leveled up Ikaru! I felt it!" Cremara exclaimed, giggling again.

"Leveled up? You felt it? What are you talking about?" I asked, confused by what she just said.

"Oh yeah, you don't get everything about here yet. You see Ikaru, after a Pokemon wins a battle with another Pokemon, we get experience points. With enough experience points, we level up and get stronger. Judging by how confused you are right now, I think you leveled up too!" she explained, still happy from her "level up."

"Yeah, maybe I did." I said to myself before continuing.

This floor was much easier then the previous one. After the first narrow path I went through, the next staircase was right there. Cremara and I quickly descended, coming to an empty room with several exits, most leading to dead ends.

After going to and fro several of the dead ends, and a battle or two in-between, we finally found the staircase, with no other Pokemon in sight. With a quick nod to each other we climbed down the stair case as fast as possible.

This new floor was rather different. Its floor was coated with the same sand from the beach, giving it a very soft touch, much unlike the cold water soaked ground of the three floors they had just explored. Large rocks shot up from the edges, making it nearly impossible to fall into the large pool of water that surrounded the sandy isle. And standing near the north edge, staring off into the northern end of the pool, was the Koffing and Zubat from earlier!

Cremara stepped forward, the twos attention still anywhere but here. After taking in a deep breath, she shouted "Hey! You two!"

The two turned around in an instant, and their gaze focused on Cremara.

"Well well! If it isn't the scared wimp from from earlier!" Koffing stated.

Cremara was discouraged by his words, and grunted as she took a step back. This didn't stop her, as she stepped forward once again. "Give me back what you stole from me, you rotten thieves!" she demanded. "What you took is my own personal treasure! It means everything in the world to me!"

Zubat seemed to grin when Cremara said "treasure." "AH, so this thing really is treasure? I bet its quite valuable then.

Koffing joined in once again. "It might even be worth more then we originally assumed!" he stated. "We should try to sell it. I'd bet we would get quite a lot of cash from this thing." He then started to laugh again. "This just gives us another reason of why we shouldn't give it back to you!" he shouted.

"What!?" Cremara seemed devastated by this. Of course, I would be to. Those two are going to pawn her personal treasure for a quick buck unless we do something!

"But if you want it back so badly…" Zubat started to say. "…Then come and get it!" Zubat started to laugh once again.

"Alright then." I said, stepping up next to Cremara. "Lets see if you two have the power to back up those big mouths of yours!

Koffing and Zubat charged forward, hoping to land the first strike. Cremara dodged the strike from Zubat, but I had a different idea. Right before Koffing was about to hit me, I grab hold of him with my paws, and hurle him through the air: Straight at Zubat! The slammed right into each other, and fell to the ground in a heap.

"Gah! That was a dirty trick, little rat!" Zubat shouted, rightening himself.

"Look who's talking! You attacked my new friend when she wasn't looking, and stole her personal treasure!' I shouted, pointing at Zubat for extra emphasis.

"Well, let's see you dodge this!" Koffing shouted as he arose, his entire form swelling with new gas he was forming. "Poison Gas!" he shouted before shooting a large purple cloud right at me. Without any time to dodge, the attack hit me, and some entered my lungs, poisoning me.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Cremara shouted as she ran up and slashed Koffing across his face, causing him to bellow in pain.

"Little brat!" Zubat shouted as he slammed into Cremaras stomach, sending her flying backwards again.

"Cremara!" I shouted, quickly flinching in pain. The poison was starting to take its toll. "That does it!" I shouted before turning to face the two again.

"Aw, what is it? Upset I hurt your friend?" Zubat taunted before laughing.

"Why you…" I started to say, feeling electricity sparking off my cheeks.

"Uh, Zubat? Maybe we shouldn't make this kid angry." Koffing said, backing up a bit after seeing the electricity fly across my body.

"Bah! You're always scared of those who decide to fight back! Besides, what can that brat do?" Zubat yelled at Koffing, obviously not scared of me in the least.

"Okay then! Let me show you what I can do!" I shouted. Although I was still poisoned, I was ignoring its effects. "_Iku Ze_!"

"Iku what?" Zubat asked, not at all sure what I said.

"Thundershock!" I shouted, and watched as the lightning raced from my body, and crashed into Zubat, knocking him out in a flash.

"Uh oh! This isn't good!" Koffing declared after seeing me defeat his partner in one move.

"Its good for us!" Cremara yelled, her voice coming from behind Koffing.

Koffing turned around to face Cremara. "What? How did yo-OOF!" before he could finish, Cremara smashed right onto him, sending him flying, and making him crash onto top of Zubat, causing the stone from earlier to fly away and land with a _thump_ in front of me.

Cremara ran over to my side. When I turned my attention back to the two, they began to stir. We prepared ourselves incase they decided to try and attack again.

"O ow ow ow…" Koffing said as he floated above the ground again.

"Ugh…They completely destroyed us!" Zubat said, also rising above the ground.

An angry look crossed Koffings face. "How were those wimps able to beat us this badly?" he yelled.

"Bah! If they fought that hard for that lousy piece of junk, let them keep it!" Zubat yelled, flapping his wings faster to demonstrate his anger.

Koffing let out a quick laugh. "Just remember, you beating us was a fluke, and nothing more!" he stated.

"Just remember that, so you won't your hopes up next time we fight!" Zubat shouted. And with that last statement, the two fled up the stairs behind us, leaving us with Cremaras personal treasure.

Cremara took a look at the stone, and her face lit up with glee. "Its my Relic Fragment!" she said in pure happiness as she picked it up. "I can't believe I managed to get it back!" She turned to me, tears of happiness forming in her eyes. "But then again, I only managed to get it back because you decided to help me. Thanks, Ikaru." She said, wiping away her tears.

--

"Thank you!" Cremara said yet again, now that we were back outside the cave. She had been thanking me non-stop since we started to leave.

I began to think to myself about what I told her before we went in, saying it felt wrong to let her go in alone. _"Did I really mean that? Or did I only help her because I just so happened to be there?"_ I thought. This would take some time to figure out. _"But then again, Cremara seems really happy because I helped. I guess it was the right thing to do, even if it might not be 100 percent sincere."_

Cremara placed the stone on the ground in front of me. "Here, take a look. This is what those two stole from me. I call it my Relic Fragment. It's the one treasure that I have!" she said, staring at the stone some more.

"Well, it does look interesting…."I said while looking at the Relic Fragment, then at her. "But why do you consider it your personal treasure?"

"You see, I've always been interested with legends and lore, so I get really excited when I hear stories about the past. Do you feel the same way?" she said as she looked up at me, but quickly turned her attention back to the Relic Fragment. "Troves full of hidden treasure and relics…Uncharted areas shrouded in mystery…And new lands, just waiting to be discovered! Places such as those must be full of treasure! As well as history! It would be amazing to make a historic discovery!"

'Wow….When you put it that way, it all sounds so interesting." With what Cremara just said, I couldn't help but start thinking of everything, from the troves of treasure to making history.

"I will admit that this thing looks like nothing more then junk, but take a closer look." Cremara said, still staring into the Relic Fragment. Needless to say, I did take a closer look, and she was right. It had this bizarre pattern on it. "See? Don't you think that inscription forms a pattern?"

"Yeah, it does form a pattern." I said. The pattern was breathtaking. I've never seen anything like it. I couldn't describe it if I wanted to.

"I have a feeling the pattern means something. And that means my Relic Fragment must be some kind of key to legendary places! To never before seen areas where treasure lies!"

"Do you really mean that? Or is it something else that's making you say that?" I asked, not sure whether to believe that last part.

"Well, to tell the truth, that last part was only a feeling I have about it." She said as she let out a small, nervous laugh. "But that's the reason why I want to join an exploration team. I just know this fragment will into something, somewhere in the world! I need to find out where that place is. It's a goal of mine to discover the mystery of my Relic Fragment!"

"Discover the mystery of your fragment? Yeah. Who knows? I might really be a key of some kind to an ancient treasure horde." I said, looking up at Cremara with a smile on my face.

"Yeah. That's the reason why I tried to join an exploration team as an apprentice….But I chickened out before I got a chance to try and join." She then looked at me. "But now, what are you going to do Ikaru? You don't have your memory, and you've been turned into a Pokemon. Do you have anywhere to go, let alone stay?"

"I….really don't know." I said, rubbing the back of my head.

"Then…Could I ask you a big favor Ikaru?" Cremara began, a pleading look in her eyes.

My large ears perked up at this question. "Alright. Shoot." I said.

"Would you…form an exploration team with me? I'm positive that we would make a great team Ikaru!" she said. "Will you? Please?"

Huh? She's trying to recruit me? Out of nowhere like this? And I don't even know what an exploration team is! My first impulse was to say no, but….I couldn't bring myself to do it. It was something about her that just made me refuse to say no.

"….Okay, I don't see why not." I said, realizing I was out of options. I had nowhere to go, I had no clue who I am, and Cremara interested me with those ideas of finding treasure. Plus, I might find out something about myself by hanging out with her. It would have to do for now.

"Really? You'll form an exploration team with me after all? Oh, thank you so much! I know we'll make a great team!" she said in glee. "First of all, we need to go to Wigglytuff's place and sign up as apprentices. That's where we need to go to and train so we can become a true exploration team. I'm pretty sure the trainings hard, but that won't stop us from getting stronger, right Ikaru?"

"No matter how hard that training is, I'm sure we'll be a real exploration team if we try hard enough!" I said, confident in our abilities.

After a short walk, both Cremara and myself found ourselves standing outside a giant wooden Wigglytuff shaped hut. Bellow its mouth, it more became a large tent and the Wigglytuff design stopped. It had a totem pole and a torch on both its right and left. The entrance was blocked by a gate, and a large grate covered a giant hole in front of the building.

"This is Wigglytuffs Guild. To form an exploration team, we need to sign up here. Then we need to train until we can become a true team, not just apprentices." Cremara said, turning to face the entrance, where she started shivering. "This place….it seems so odd…"

"What? You're not trying to say that because this place looks a little odd, your going to let it scare you off?" I said, trying to offer words of encouragement.

"…Your right. Thanks Ikaru. I'm not going to run away this time!" she said, walking forward. "I've got to be brave." Then, she stepped over the grate.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!" a voice shouted from down below the grate. What? There's somebody down there? Why? "Whose footprint? Whose footprint? The footprint is Torchic's! The footprint is Torchic's!"

"Gah!" Cremara said, starting to shiver again. "No, I'm not going to run away this time…"

"…You may ENTER!" the voice shouted again. "Someone's with you! So get that stranger to stand up THERE!"

Cremara stepped off the grate, and then looked at me. "They're talking about you, Ikaru. They just told you to stand on the grate." She said.

"Alright. Here goes nothing." I said as I stepped on the grate.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!" the voice shouted yet again. "Whose footprint? Whose footprint? The footprint is…The footprint is….Umm…"

"Sentry, what's the matter?" a second voice shouted. This one was horribly loud. "What's wrong already, sentry Diglett?"

"Umm…The footprint is…." The voice, apparently a Diglett, continued. "…Maybe Pikachu's! Maybe Pikachu's!"

"What? MAYBE?!" the voice shout, even louder then last time.

"It's not a footprint I normally see around here!" the Diglett shouted back.

"BAH! That's pretty crummy! Checking the footprints of any visiting Pokemon is you job, ISN'T it, Diglett?" the voice boomed again.

"I think I'm going to go deaf if this keeps up…" I said, holding my hands over my sensitive ears.

"True as that is, I don't know what I don't know!" the Diglett shouted back.

"Are they…arguing? Why are they arguing?

"Sorry for the WAIT. It's true you don't see any Pikachu in these parts…But you don't SEEM to be bad." The loud voice sounded again. "Ok, good enough! ENTER!"

With that, the large gate blocking the guilds entrance rose up, allowing us access.

"Yikes! I'm so nervous…So jittery…." Cremara said, trembling where she stood.

"Come on Cremara! This is what you've always wanted, right? Why are you so scared then?" I asked.

Cremara took in a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Thanks Ikaru. I needed that." She said. "I'm so glad We're allowed inside, but my hearts racing right now!" she said then walked to the entrance. "But I'm not running away this time. OK, lets go in."

"Don't have to tell me twice!" I exclaimed, dashing inside. Cremara followed close behind. There wasn't anything in the room other then a sign, a giant hole with a ladder sticking out, and an arrow pointing down the hole.

"Look at that! That hatch leads underground!" Cremara said, eyeing the wooden ladder.

Before another word could be said, I started climbing down, Cremara following soon after.

In the room below, there were several groups of Pokemon, either chatting with one another or looking a one of two boards located on the wall. It was surprisingly well lit, despite the floor being underground.

"Wow! So this is the Wigglytuff Guild!' Cremara said, walking with me to the center of the large room. "Do you think everyone here is a member of an exploration team?"

"Hey! You two!" a voice shouted from the ladders. Both Cremara and I turned to see the source of the noise; which turned out to be a Chatot coming up from a deeper part of the guild. It flew over in front of us, and then landed. "You are the ones who just entered, are you not?"

"Uhh…Y-yes, we are." Cremara said, looking a tad confused at the Chatots sudden appearance.

"I'm Chatot!" the Parrot Pokemon said with a slight singing tone. "I just so happen to be the Pokemon in the know around these parts! I am also Guildmaster Wigglytuffs right-hand Pokemon!" Finishing its statement with another singing tone. "Now, get out! Leave this area! We have no time for salespeople or any surveys! Off you go, if you please!"

"Wait! Thats not why we're here!" Cremara said. "We want to form an exploration team. That's why we came, so we can train to be a real exploration team."

"Huh? An exploration team?" the Chatot questioned. Why would he be so shocked? The Chatot turned to face the ladders. "It's not very often that a couple kids want to come here to become an apprentice to the guild."

….Kids? He just called me a kid? If he didn't happen to be the Guildmaster's right hand Pokemon, I would have blasted him full of lightning on the spot. But, I held it back. A couple sparks flew from my cheeks, but that seemed to happen every time I get angry.

"The reason most kids don't join is because of how hard our training is!" Chatot said. Apparently, what Cremara said earlier was right. Training to be an exploration team wasn't going to be easy. "Why, the steady stream of Pokemon that flee from this guild due to the training proves how rigorous it is!"

"Wait, the exploration team training is that severe? I never heard it was that hard before…" Cremara said with a puzzled look on her face.

"What?" Chatot said, whipping around. "Well…no! Not at all! No, no, no! That is not true in the slightest way! The training program we have is as easy as it can get! If you wanted to be an exploration team, you should have told me that from the start!" he said before letting out a slightly musical giggle.

"Ikaru, is it just me…..or did his attitude just change?" Cremara whispered.

"It's not just you. He's like a completely different person then he was a couple seconds ago." I replied, also in a whisper.

"Now, lets just get your team signed up right away! Follow me, if you would!" the Chatot sang as he flew down another ladder leading further underground. It didn't take long for us to follow.

At the bottom of this other ladder, we entered a very spacious room, more then 3 times the size of the above floor!

"If you couldn't tell, this is the Guilds second underground floor." Chatot said, a couple feet in front of us. "Although this is normally where the apprentices work, registration is also down here. Right this way." Chatot began hopping, and stopped next to a wooden door no less then 10 feet from where we started.

Cremara, instead of paying attention to the door, ran past Chatot and stopped in front of a window…Wait, a **WINDOW**?! Why is there a window in an underground floor? And how is it possible to see outside?

"Incredible! We've two floors under the ground, but we can still see outside!" Cremara said, both amazed and confused at the same time from the looks of it. Of course, so was I.

"Oh please, of course you can see outside! The Guild is built on the side of a cliff!" Chatot replied. "It makes perfect sense that one can see outside."

Cremara let out a nervous giggle and walked back over to my side.

"Now, this is Guildmaster Wigglytuffs chamber. You should under no circumstances, speak rudely to the Guildmaster!" he shouted, flapping his wings wildly, then turn to the door. "Guildmaster! It's Chatot! I'm coming in!" With that, he opened the door, and we all walked inside.

Behind the door was a room about the same size as the one on the floor above, with several opened treasure chests filled with items and two unlit torches near the center of the room. Small flowing plants dotted random parts of the room. At the northern end, standing atop a red rug, was a massive pink Pokemon, facing with its back turned to us.

"Guildmaster! I present to you two Pokemon who wish to join our guild as apprentices!" Chatot said.

The massive pink Pokemon remained motionless, not ever turn to face our direction.

"Uh..Guildmaster? Guildmaster?" Chatot said, cocking his head to the side.

After a brief pause, the pink Pokemon turned around with incredible speed. "Hiya!' it shouted.

I couldn't help but jump backwards a couple inches. That thing moved so fast…and why wasn't it paying attention a couple seconds ago?

"I'm Wigglytuff! I'm the guild's Guildmaster!" the pink blob stated. "You want to form an exploration team? Then, lets go for it!"

So, this was the head of the guild? He seems a little…out of it. I didn't want to risk saying anything that might get me thrown out, so I just kept quiet.

"First of all, we need to register your exploration team's name! What is your team name?" Wigglytuff asked, bouncing up and down.

"Huh? Our team's name? Well….we didn't think of that yet…" Cremara said, turning to face me. "Ikaru, do you have any ideas on what to name our team?"

"A team name?" I asked myself. A flurry of different names entered my head, most of which were ignored. Most just sounded corny, several of them made no sense, and one was completely insane. Then, one of the names hit me. "Hey, how about Blazebolt?"

"…Blazebolt? Yeah! Team Blazebolt! I like that name!" Cremara said, a smile crossing her face.

"All settled then! I'll register you as Team Blazebolt! Registering…Registering…" Wigglytuff began saying.

"What on earth is he doing?" I asked to myself.

"YOOM…TAH!" he suddenly shouted, with several brilliant white flashes appearing. "Congratulations! Now you're an official exploration team! Here's something to commemorate the occasion!" Wigglytuff put a Golden Box which had "Exploration Team Kit" engraved on it.

"An exploration team kit?" Cremara asked, walking up to the box.

"Yup yup! It's what every exploration team needs! Now open it up!" Wiggly stated, hopping up and down.

Cremara, already in front of the box, opened it with her beak, then removed three items. One of them looked like a badge, the next one appeared to be a map, and the third one was a bag of some kind.

"Wow! Just look at all of these neat items!" Cremara said, her gaze shifting from one of the items to the next.

"The first item is your Explorers badge! It's your team's identification! The other one is a Wonder Map! It's wonderfully convenient!" Wigglytuff said with a grin. "Then there's the treasure bag. It lets you carry items you find in dungeons! The more important missions your team does, the bigger your treasure bag will get! It's a very useful item! Now, look at what's inside!"

Cremara and I looked into the bag. The first item was a scarf of some kind, which she held onto. The item I pulled out was a pink bow of some kind. I don't know why, but it felt like it was radiating some kind of energy to me. I decided to hold onto it for the time being.

"Those two items are special. I'm positive they will help you on your adventures!" Wigglytuff said.

"Thank you! I promise we'll do our best!" Cremara said, still holding onto the scarf.

"But remember, your only apprenticing at the guild right now. So do your best while you train!" the pink Pokemon said.

"We will!" Cremara said before turning to me. "Right Ikaru?

"Of course. We need to give it our all if we want to get stronger." I said.

With that, we each shook our heads in agreement.

"Now come along you two. I still need to give you a tour of the guild!" Chatot said, flying out the door. Cremara and I followed as fast as we could.


End file.
